Desperate Times, Desperate Measures
by Selicity Wright
Summary: The evil Dr. Gero has created his androids as Trunks predicted but his arrival from the future has once more alternated the course of events. This time it is Bulma and Goku who survive the apocalypse and must work together to put an end to the tyrannical deeds of the terminators -I mean androids!
1. Chapter 1 Tired

_Run. You have to keep going, don't look back...you can't give them the satisfaction of seeing your fear._

Bulma muffled a scream with her hand and launched upward a brittle sheet falling around her waist and exposing her shoulders to the cold. Only darkness met her when she'd opened her eyes, making it difficult to tell if she'd even really opened them. Her lids felt hopelessly heavy with countless restless nights weighing them down. Slick with sweat and heaving in the stagnant air in deep, desperate gulps Bulma clutched her hands to her chest and tried to settle her heart rate.

"It was just a nightmare Bulma...you're way too uneasy." She tried to reason with herself.

Something shifted in the void beside her, but she wasn't alarmed. "Goku?" Swallowing the uncomfortable dryness from her mouth, she leaned over and pressed a palm to the enormous torso of the man beside her. Just this small act took extraordinary trust, for there was no getting used to the black that came at night those days and a hand reached into this kind of abyss could have just as easily been snatched by wild creature or something worse.

Thankfully, sinew and flesh met her fingers and a gentle voice followed it, "Bulma? Hey, are you OK? Did you have another bad dream?" Goku's bulky frame felt like it was lifting from the ground where they'd been sleeping.

"I'm sorry...I didn't mean to wake you." Bulma whispered in response and dropped her hand from his chest. "I just...I'm not sure if I can take it anymore..." She was babbling.

There was movement again: rustling of blankets in the dark, a distant cough.

"Hey, hey...shhh. It's Ok…" He tried to console her but she could sense the uncertainty of his own words.

"Thanks Goku..." Bulma brushed a nervous hand through her hair.

There was a long pause and then his arms reached up from the shadows and wrapped around her in an embrace. Bulma buried her head in his shoulder and melted against him, drawing from his strength with a sigh.

"What was it about?" He asked, slowly, warily.

She swallowed, not really sure she wanted to talk about it. "It was the one about Vegeta this time…"

"Oh." There was hurt in his voice that cut into her. "You don't have to share, I'm sorry."

"No. It's OK! You were right to ask, it's just…"

"Painful." He supplied.  
>She frowned, "Yeah."<p>

"You know...I know how you feel." He said after a few moments of reminiscent silence.

"What do you mean?"

"I don't know how much I can take anymore, either."

Something in her heart sank at that, if Goku was losing faith then there was no hope left for the world. No hope left for anything.

"We have to stay strong though...for the others." He added and Bulma closed her eyes.

"I don't think I can anymore, I'm just so tired Goku."

Tears burned in her eyes and threatened to spill over but she held them back in defiance. The Bulma that cried when things got rough or frightening was gone, she'd become jaded with time and with unimaginable loss.

"I know...me too, but we have to."

He combed his fingers through her knotted hair and then settled his palm on the back of her head, pulling her closer and tighter as if he'd lose her to the darkness around them.

"I guess you're right."

Bulma felt selfish, everyone was just as tired as she was, just as lost and confused and hopeless and Goku was most of all. He barely ever slept and when he wasn't sleeping he was training hard -pushing himself to the limits and beyond them. It miracle that he wasn't dead.

"I need to get out of here for a little while, get my thoughts together." She said, reluctantly pushing away from him.

"I'll go with you."

"Goku…"

"Look, I get that you're sad and want to be alone. But it's too dangerous to go out there alone Bulma. You could get hurt or worse so either I go with you or I will stop you from going."

There was no room for argument in his tone, she knew it all too well; he only used it when he was completely serious and there was much cause for that those days.

Sighing she nodded, then remembered he probably couldn't see her and added, "Fine, have it your way then."

She was just too tired to argue.


	2. Chapter 2 Memory Lane

Outside the doors was nearly as dark as it was inside. Thick, ominous clouds like black smoke covered the stars and smothered the moon except for a single stream of light which spilled over a cluster of buildings in the distance.

They wandered out into a patch of rubble that used to be the veranda and with sinking hearts climbed up the piles of cement blocks and crooked rebars surrounding their hideout. Methodically the two checked for any signs of movement that was not a stray dog or collapsing ceiling and within moments reported back to one another. "Cost is all clear." Goku announced.

Relaxing Bulma joined him at his side and peered up at a billboard which had remained intact but for a large chunk blown from its center. The face painted on the old wood belonged to an actress she'd once adored, Madam Zakuro had been her name. Those days there was only the radio broadcasting recent events from secret towers and even now they were few and far between.

Bulma sighed, "I miss television." She said longling.

There were more important things to discuss but she was exhausted and the dust which had settled over the air was making her drowsy again.

"Huh, really?" Goku asked, looking over at the billboard. "Oh yeaaah! Madam What's-her-face!"

"Madam Zakuro!" She corrected.

"Sure, yeah. The ugly girl you watched in all those weird movies."

Bulma scowled and crossed her arms indignantly. "She was not ugly Goku! She was a lot like me, and I was beautiful not to mention talented! At least in those days…" Her head hung as she eyed her reflection in a shard of broken glass on the pavement. She was so old now with greying wisps of blue hair and though she was still lovely, there was the ghost of something ugly in her eyes and frown lines which had bore into her cheeks.

"Gosh Bulma! I knew you were talented with all that science stuff, buuut...I don't know about beautiful." He scratched his head, confused.

Bulma turned on him in a flash and jabbed a finger on his chest, trademark rage contorting her features, "You listen here bub! I was the prettiest girl in all of West City! If you didn't think so, you should have your eyes checked!"

Goku only took a nervous step back and laughed, "Sorry Bulma, I didn't mean to offend you."

With the faint light of the moon guiding her, she could just make out his eyes softening and the silhouette of his hand as reached across to stroke her cheek. "I love you no matter what you look like anyways, you know that.

Her face turned several shades of pink, "Oh Goku...I just can't stay mad at you." She sighed and pressed her head into his hand, nuzzling the rough pads of his fingertips.

He stepped in closer to her and again those powerful arms coiled around her slender shoulders in the sort of warm, all embracing, hug only Goku could give. "Well that's good, you're kind of scary when you're angry."

She laughed and said with whimsical sigh, "Goku…."

"Come on, let's take that walk."

Bulma let him guide her carefully over the fallen stones and deeper into the ravaged city in silence. She really wasn't sure why she'd insisted on going out into the polluted air except that maybe old habits had urged her; whatever had led her to the decision, she was beginning to regret it.

They creeped along decaying sidewalks, dark with the eerie shadows of ruined buildings and vines which came from cracks in the cement and suffocated nearly everything around them. Even with a powerful saiyan by her side, there was little that dwindled fear those days and the abandoned streets only served as a reminder of darker days.

Twelve years ago an evil scientist mastermind named Dr. Gero released two machines called Androids 17 and 18 with the intention of killing Goku out of an insane desire for revenge. In an effort to end his madness before it began a boy named Trunks came in a time machine to warn the Z fighters with a set of important instructions and three years to prepare. What they couldn't be ready for, however, was the butterfly effects that would come with his arrival. Dr. Gero made his inventions too powerful and too intelligent and shortly after activating them they revolted against their creator and demolished him. Then in what could only be explained as the boredom of the psychotic, they turned on the rest of the world.

One month, that's all it took for them to battle their way through the Z fighters and ignite all of human civilization in flames -and they did it with smiles on their faces. As predicted by Trunks, Goku developed a heart condition that left him unable to fight and the antidote though helped, did not cure him entirely. Bulma, however, had seen the importance of keeping Goku alive, and not just because he was her friend, he was the only one who could stop 17 and 18 and restore peace -so she took him in her jet to Kami's lookout while he fought off the terrible heart disease that threatened to kill him. Up there, all alone (Mr. Popo fled into hiding soon after Kami and Piccolo merged) she was able to put him on an advanced life-support that kept him breathing...but he soon fell into a coma.

When he finally woke up to find all of their family and friends dead he exploded into a rage filled war path and attacked the villainous machines head-on...but he hadn't been strong enough and the only thing it gained him was a gruesome scar across his right pectoral. There was nothing anyone could do, so instead the pair dedicated themselves to training and to finding the few survivors and keeping them as safe as they could.

To say it was a hard life was an understatement, they struggled just to survive each day. All of the conveniences of their modern world were few and far between: stores, television, vehicles...plumbing! It was a battle just to get enough food to provide for everyone -especially with Goku's insatiable appetite.

Through all of this there was at least one thing working; Bulma and Goku had been together for a little over three years now, after a night of passion caused from years of loneliness left them wondering if they weren't meant to be with each other. It was them who began the epic journey that saved the world over and over again, and it appeared it would be them till the bitter end.

Bulma was deeply receded into her thoughts when suddenly Goku said, "We have to do something."

They'd been walking in dead silence, picking their way through the weeds and dismantled vehicles and the sound of his voice had nearly startled her. She frowned and gazed at him, only now noticing that he'd grown tense while thinking of what she assumed was his own dark memories. Waking up to learn Chi-Chi and Gohan were dead, fighting the androids, struggling to live and provide for the survivors they rescued.

"What do you mean? We are doing something, we're doing everything we can." She knew that's not what he meant but did not like where he was going with it. Goku was all she had left, if she lost him to some crazy misadventure...she didn't know what she would do.

"You said you couldn't take it anymore, didn't you? Well, I can't either! What's the point of all this training and power if I can't even stop a couple of machines?" He stopped dead on the street between an upturned stoller covered in moss and a fire hydrant. The veins cording the back of his hands and forehead bulged in response to his growing anger.

Bulma sighed and looked up at the colorless sky, she understood what he was going through all too well but also knew when it was time to give up. "Goku...I know what I said earlier but I was upset. You can't be rash -you understand that, don't you?" With tearing eyes she stared at him again, wishing she could say more, do more but all she could offer was her sympathy.

"If we keep sneaking around like this, we're going to get caught! We should face them head on!"  
>"It's suicide!"<br>"Not if I Ascend."

Bulma gasped, "You mean...go higher than a Super Saiyan? You don't even know if that's possible Goku!"

"I know it is, I can feel it." He said and seemed to relax slightly.

"Oh Goku…" She said with a sad little sigh, "Train more if it makes you feel better, but promise me you won't face them...not yet."

His eyes settled on her's and there was a long, insufferable silence between them before he responded, "I can't make that promise Chi-Chi. If this comes down to losing you, I will fight them."

Bulma gaped but he didn't seem to realize what he'd said. She wanted to be angry with him, but the look on his face made her hurt and all she could do was frown and whisper to him, "Alright."

And then they turned around and went back to the hideout, but by the time they'd returned and curled up in each other's arms...both of them fell asleep knowing that something was going to happen -and soon.


	3. Chapter 3 Time of Dying

Bulma woke to the sound of crying some time later and curiously peeked through her lashes. Small holes in the ceiling were filtering light like golden beams that cut through the shadows, it was morning already. She felt a pang of frustration and was tempted to ignore the weeping, which was not entirely uncommon to hear those days, and go back to sleep but couldn't bring herself to do it.

So Bulma blinked away the exhaustion from her lids and rolled out from under Goku's heavy arm with a weak little sigh. She roved the dim, ruined place for whoever was responsible for the tears until her eyes fell on the far corner of the room. There, near a chunk of concrete with several rusty rebars jutting from it, was a small girl with green hair. Her legs were folded against her body and her head was resting between the nook in her knees.

Bulma frowned and instantly felt guilty for having even considered turning a blind eye. Some maternal need to comfort the baby stirred inside her, and the loss of the son she never had baited her sorrow as she watched the child weep and decided she would go to her.

Beside her, Goku was snoring soundly at last getting the rest he deserved and she had no thought of waking him over a crying child. Determined to do this on her own she approached the girl and as she neared another body melted from the deep shadows beside the concrete block. It was an elderly woman laying flat on her back, appearing to be asleep with her silvery green hair tucked beneath her head like a pillow.

Bulma knew these two, the child was Arugula and her grandmother, the one laying beside her, was named Lettuce. "Aru?" She asked in a worried whisper as there were others about them still trying to sleep. "What's the matter, why are you crying?" She added.

Arugula stared up at her at the sound of her name and with a little sputter said, "It's grammy, she's dyin'."

Bulma looked down in alarm at the Lettuce who seemed for all the world to be slumbering peacefully on the thin blue blankets. "Hey, hey now." She started to assure the child, but found it hard not to get choked up and took a sharp breathe in as though mustering courage.

She kneeled by the grandmother and put two investigative fingers on her throat, swallowing the lump in her own as she did. There was a heartbeat but it was slow and heavy and her breathing was strained, Aru was right...she didn't have much longer. "Oh no." Bulma thought. "Lettuce is all Aru has left in the world, if she dies she'll have no one."

Quickly she went over everything she could do for the woman but in the end came to the conclusion that without decent hospitals nearby or proper supplies there was nothing they could accomplish but make her comfortable and wait. She was mulling over how to tell Arugula that all her fears had been correct when Goku's voice came from the greying dark.

"Hey, what's wrong? Is everything OK? Bulma?"

In a moment Bulma could feel his body heat directly behind her, he hadn't even made a noise, and she turned to face him. There must have been something haunting in her eyes because the sweet expression on his face turned serious. "What is it?" He asked again with more conviction.

Bulma gave her best smile to Arugula and then guided Goku out of earshot. "It's Lettuce Goku, she's almost gone."

"What?!" His voice carried further than it should have and instinctively she grimaced and pulled him a bit further away.

"Shhh! Keep it down Goku! Jeez!"  
>"Woops, sorry." He paled and for an instant she saw that goofy man again before it was masked by the dire of the situation at hand. "What's wrong with her? Are you sure there's nothing we can do to help...something with science maybe?"<p>

Bulma inclined her head and shook it, the greying strands of her hair falling from its loose bun and tumbling around her shoulders. "She's just too old Goku, this is no life for the elderly. I'm afraid it was only a matter of time before her heart gave out from the exertion."

He, too, hung his head. "I see...how long then?"

"It's hard to say but I would give it a few hours at the most."

"Well then, we'll wait here 'til then and give her a proper burial."

Bulma's eyes were saucers, "But Goku! The Hideout! We were going to get this group there before tomorrow night, you know we can't stay in one place too long-"

"I know, but we can't expect Lettuce to be able to travel that sort of distance. Just let her die in peace around friends, not on the road in danger."

"We're all in danger if we don't go today! Someone can carry her!" She argued.

"Bulma!" There was warning in his tone and she swallowed as if there were cotton balls in her throat and nodded in understanding. Stress burned in her muscles and made her ache all over, but there was nothing else to be done.

She closed her eyes then and tried not to think about how many others were denied the luxury of dying in peace. All the innocent lives that were slaughtered in horrific manners by the tirade of the androids. How Vegeta and Chi-Chi were never given the option of a normal passing.

There it was, that name again, Chi-Chi. The idea of ever being jealous of Goku's ex-wife had never even passed her mind until last night when Goku had said her name instead of Bulma...Something seared in her stomach at the thought but she was afraid of what it would awaken and opened her eyes again.

"Oh alright, you win." She said in defeat and resigned to trusting Goku to make the right decision.

"Hey," he cupped a hand on her shoulder and there was just enough light now to see him smiling. "We'll make it there, I promise...OK?"

Bulma nodded yet again and looked over at Arugula; she was still curled up in a ball weeping and for a moment the memory of her own mourning so many years ago played over her lids like a bad movie.

Vegeta and her hadn't really been together, not in the traditional sense anyways, but they had been with one another before he made it out for space in one of their ships. There had been signs of a baby only a couple weeks later but the tides turned quickly and she'd lost it to a miscarriage only a month or so into the pregnancy. Devastated, she'd swore not to tell Vegeta that he'd been given a son only to lose him; he died never knowing he'd almost been a father and some time after she wondered if that was really such a good thing.

Her memories were convoluted after that as she'd only been told of the events following the arrival of the dreaded androids. Vegeta had been one of the first to perish, he'd charged the androids blindly and arrogantly as a newly created super saiyan but it hadn't been enough to destroy them.

It was terrible thinking of him dying but worse when she learned of the way it happened; they hadn't given him a warriors death but rather treated his death like a game. After he'd been defeated and the rest of the fighters there that day killed (except for Piccolo who'd flown off to merge with Kami) he'd charged them again in a golden blur of rage but they quickly knocked him unconscious and tossed him into the air. Back and forth they'd kicked him like a soccer ball in the sky until his muscles gave out and he could take more and it had been Krillin who shouted from the cliff face, begging them to stop.

When Krillin returned with the news, having been spared that day for reasons no one understood, Bulma had been overwhelmed by grief and locked herself in her lab for hours sitting against a wall very much like Arugula sat now.

"I'll go tell her the news." She told Goku at last, peering up at him just as a ray of light shot across his face and seemed to set his hair and eyes on fire.

Goku nodded and stepped aside, crestfallen. He knew about Trunks and the miscarriage and he understood perhaps even better than herself why she needed to be the one to tell Arugula. It was him that had to explain to her that the purple haired boy who'd come to warn them of the future, had been the son she'd never get to raise.


	4. Chapter 4 Live

It was to be expected that Arugula didn't handle the news well. She wailed as any child might and threw her arms around Bulma's waist while stomping her feet and nuzzling her wet eyes and nose in her shirt. Tears streamed down her own cheeks as the child pleaded with her, "No!" She cried, "No, she can't jus' die! She can't! Please Bulma! Save 'er, please! Ye have to! I got no one left!"

Arugula's country accent was garbled as it was and between the choking sobs and stuffy nose Bulma was beginning to struggle understanding her but she stood there anyways, stroking the little girl's hair and imagining how she might have handled things if this was her own child.

She felt a profound sadness as she responded. "I'm so sorry Arugula...but there's nothing I can do."

Arugula let out a terrible despairing cry and sank to her knees, crawled over to Lettuce on all fours, wrapped her tiny hands around her shoulders and began to shake her. "Grammy! Wake up! Don' leave me!"

Bulma, alarmed, moved over to the child and gently pulled her away. "Aru! You can't do that, you might hurt her."

"Let 'er be hurt! She's betrayed me! She promised not to leave me!" She turned on her and stared balefully, an angry furrow in her brow.

Bulma sighed, feeling the deepness of her frown ache in her cheeks, but let go and sat against the wall and it was like this they sat for some time after.

It wasn't until the sun was shining through every open crevice in the walls and ceiling and the world seemed alive but for the rubble around them that Arugula finally slumped against the wall, asleep. Bulma tucked her beneath a soft blue blanket and turned to watch Goku across the room as he and a few others huddled around an old ham radio. She could vaguely hear a voice crackling on the other end of the receiver, someone at the Hideout more than likely giving them a list of needed supplies before the search party returned home.

Goku had his hands on his hips until some wire snapped and sparked and the small blinking light on the device went dark. There were several frantic murmurs and then Goku picked it up curiously and shook it then it to his ear like it was a Christmas present and he was trying to guess its contents. Before anyone could protest he gave it another hard shake and it sparked and the static in the speakers shut off completely. It was dead.

If there'd been panic before, it doubled now and all the while Bulma put her head in her hands and shook her head. "Oh Goku." She grumbled, not bothering to watch as her boyfriend rushed to put the radio back on the rock ledge as though nothing happened and scratched his head in confusion.

She knew she had to go help them and that if she didn't one of them would just bring the stupid thing to her, but when she went to stand, something stirred in the dark shadow beside her. Lettuce had opened and eye and had turned her head to look at her. There was something knowing in those sad emerald eyes that pained Bulma but she smiled anyways, sat back down and whispered, "Hey there old timer, how you feeling?"

Lettuce shook her head sternly, "Pish. Don' bother with the niceties child, we both know I ain't got much longer."

Bulma frowned and Lettuce snorted (which sounded painful with her heaving breaths).

"You city folk always look like a bug done flew in yer curds. Never smilin', always miserable."

Bulma shook her head, thoroughly put off. "I'm sorry?"

"Ah...Daft as a plank, poor dear."

To that Bulma growled, "What did you just call me you crazy old kook?"

"I called you daft, goodness me girl I thought I was the one hard of hearing."

She stared at her indignantly and grit her teeth.

"Oh relax and get a sense of humor before yer as wrinkled as me." Lettuce chuckled and offered her a near toothless grin.

Bulma was amazed at how calm the woman was being in the face of death, even if she was troublesome and she said as much to Lettuce.

She laughed and wheezed in response and reached over a frail hand to pat her own. She felt cold but Bulma didn't flinch, though she was frowning again, her anger forgotten.

"I'm gonna let ye in on a secret of death." Lettuce confided.

Instinctively, Bulma leaned closer.

There was a long silence and a low cough from deep in the woman's throat before at last she said, "Live."

That single word was so alarmingly abstruse that she pressed herself against the wall and just stared at her for a moment unsure of what to say. When nothing came to her she finally just went to wake up Arugula, thinking Lettuce would like to speak with her before it was too late.

That's not what happened however, for Lettuce only held up her hand to wait and frowned so deeply that the wrinkles in her jowls touched her neck and her eyes drained of the mirth that had been there moments ago. Bulma stopped, fearful of the sadness that suddenly overcame the old woman.

"She's a strong girl." Lettuce admired, looking at the child curled up next to her, her green hair like vines sprawling out from beneath the blanket.

"Yes." Bulma agreed, watching them and realizing she almost felt envious of what Lettuce had even if she was soon going to die.

"She's gonna be OK." Lettuce continued as her eyes, sharp as ever again, found Bulma. "You watch her though, ya hear? She needs somebody, might as well be you…even if ya are daft."

Bulma gaped, too stupefied to retaliate from the insult. Tears watered the corners of her eyes and spilled over her cheek as she considered what this meant.

Lettuce was still talking slowly and she had to strain to hear her past the thudding of her heart in her ears and the insanity of her thoughts which now buzzed in her head like a thousand angry, excited bees.

Then, without much warning, Lettuce fell silent. The hand which had been on her stomach fell limp and her eyes closed with a final exhale. She was gone.

Bulma sat there for what felt like ages, staring at the body of the woman. She was thinking about death and the word which was spoken to her with such conviction -the secret which really wasn't one at all yet still held some profoundness to it. At last Arugula stirred beside her and rose blinking eyes up at Bulma which instantly and without a word to her, flashed to her grandmother.

"Grammy? Grammy! Wake up!"

Bulma put a hand on her back as Arugula again shook her stiffening shoulders and cried out.

"Aru, hey." She tried to console but it was no use, Arugula screamed "GO AWAY!" and slipped from under her hand.

She ran off into the darkness of the farthest corners of the building. Bulma could hear the echoing click of steps as she ran up the stairs where there was a platform between stairwells that had been sectioned off by large fallen stones. She'd be safe there at least.

In a flash of orange and blue, Goku was beside her again, staring at the black shadows where Arugula had vanished.

"She's gone, Goku." Bulma murmured.

"I know. I felt her energy, she was a good person. King Yema will be sure to send her to Otherworld."

"She gave her to me."

He looked confused so, with a small sigh she added. "Lettuce, she gave Arugula to me to take care of."

Bulma crossed her arms over her chest and looked up at him. She was met by his wide, wondering gaze.

"That's amazing Bulma!" Goku said at last and grinned.

She would have responded but behind him the radio, apparently having been on a snapped leg, tumbled off the ledge and smashed into pieces on the ground below.

All talk about Aru ceased then. And just like that a terrible realization occurred to her when she saw those broken coils and gears.

"Goku, we need to go back to Dr. Gero's lab."

She wasn't sure why she only thought of it now, after all these years. Perhaps grief fogged her mind or maybe she couldn't possibly imagine the world being any worse than it already was. It didn't really matter, because now it was as lucid and ominous as when a massive storm cloud approaches.

"Okay." Goku answered, "but why?"

Bulma returned her eyes to him, her gaze had glossed over slightly. "Because, Dr. Gero was mad and wanted you dead...I have a bad feeling he didn't just make two androids. What if there are more Goku?"

His face darkened. "I never thought of that."

"Lets hope the Androids haven't either."

Another, happier, idea crossed her mind and she continued, "And, if they haven't gone back, we might be able to find blueprints that will help us beat those toaster ovens into scrap metal!"

Something very close to hope filled her chest as the two grinned suddenly at each other.

"Right!" Goku announced, "We'll go as soon as we bury Lettuce."

To that, there was no arguing. They couldn't bring the corpse with them, despite the depressing idea of burying her in the back of a ruined warehouse.

(I know some of you are anxious for the androids and I promise you they are coming soon! Thank you so much to all of my followers and all the wonderful and helpful reviews. I couldn't do this without you guys! 3 )


	5. Chapter 5 Missing

The funeral seemed more like a procession of ragged souls grieving the end of a story they knew would one day be their own rather than Lettuce. No one there knew the woman very well except little Arugula who stood beside Bulma at the freshly dug grave while a man they'd only just met days ago spoke last words over it.

Goku had his arms crossed next to them, looking grim but not with the gravestone or the wildflowers bundled at its base, his eyes were on the sky. Bulma caught herself wondering what he was thinking about, Lettuce? The Androids? The lab? Chi Chi? That thought stabbed a little arrow in her heart and she quickly pulled away from it and became angry with him suddenly. Angry because he'd let that thought cross her mind after all they'd been through and angry that she should feel that way about him.

Then a more grievous thought trickled into her mind. Their friends were not given the chance for a real funeral, perhaps because somehow she and Goku had believed they could recover the balls and wish them back. She supposed the real reason was the idea that they were truly gone had been too painful to bare at the time. Bulma found herself staring at the grave thinking not of Lettuce but of her parents, her friends, Vegeta, her lost son and then suddenly the words Lettuce had spoken before dying.

Live. All of them had certainly done that. Did that mean they died happy and calm like Lettuce? She couldn't imagine that was possible, especially not for Vegeta.

Arugula stood outside the back door of the warehouse for some time after the funeral had ended and the others went back to their preparations. The door was open so that Bulma could see her from the cement block where the old woman's things were still sprawled in heaps along the wall. She was going through them while the others packed their things in preparation to move out again in a few hours.

The plan was to take the survivors to headquarters where they'd be safe and then Bulma and Goku would go immediately to Dr. Gero's lab. No one but them knew this yet, but she doubted anyone would protest if they knew why they needed to do it.

The possible threat of another android was terrifying and they were obviously the only ones capable of completely a mission of such importance.

She sighed wearily and scooped up a scarf from the ground. Lettuce had had endless bundles of blankets, burlap sacks, knitting needles and knitted things and a few basic rations all the survivors they found were given whether they agreed to join them or not.

Not everyone decided to come with Bulma and Goku when they were discovered. Some were unfit to allow within their group, even just to bring back to headquarters, as they were too belligerent or volatile to trust. Those that did come, however, were given a portion of food and whatever else they needed and travelled with them. Most of the survivors that came with them made it to headquarters, which was located in the forest beneath Kami's lookout. This was because none of them could actually make it up or down it. It would have been tedious work to bring them each individually up and impossible to bring them down whenever they needed provisions.

Besides, Goku trained on Kami's lookout when they were at headquarters, it was the only place he could do so safely and without concern of hurting someone or straying too far out of reach.

Bulma and Goku went on trips every few weeks to look for other survivors. They'd been gone now for three weeks, it was time they went home. But of course, there was no such thing anymore, not really.

"Goku?" Bulma alerted him when he passed her by. She was staring thoughtfully out the open door at Arugula still kneeling by her grandmother's grave.

"Hm? What is it Bulma?" He asked curiously.

Her heart swelled. How did he seem so relaxed? So himself suddenly? Why did she feel so severe when in truth her burden was so much less than his own? The hand which clenched to a knitted scarf now hung loosely at her side as if defeated by her wayward thoughts.

"Do you miss her?" It was barely more than a whisper.

He frowned, clearly at a loss and she sighed, "Chi Chi."

It almost hurt to watch the realization hit his face. Those wide, innocent eyes fell a bit shamefully and he looked down. She didn't need to hear him answer, that was enough of an indication but he did so anyways. "Everyday."

Almost immediately the heart which had surged seconds before, fell with that answer and then plummeted with the guilt she felt for letting it upset her. It wasn't fair to feel that way and she knew it but she didn't try to stop herself from feeling it.

"You said her name."

He looked up.

"Last night. You said her name, not mine." Then when he still seemed lost, "When you swore to fight the androids."

Again there was an awful moment of clarity on his face and he held up his hands to her. She stepped back from them, though she really had no reason to.

"Bulma, I love you. I'm so sorry." He told her so convicted she didn't doubt it but still felt angry.

"I want to go home." Bulma sighed wretchedly in response. Admittedly it wasn't a very good way to return his affection but she didn't care. She also had no idea why she wanted to go home so badly so suddenly or why the mention of his old wife surfaced so much guilt and anger.

"But I thought you wanted to go to Dr. Gero's lab." He responded.

She glowered at him and shouted, "I want both of those things you lughead!" Because there was solace in blind anger as much as there was guilt.

"I haven't been home in almost 12 years! It's been too dangerous, which is preposterous because everywhere is too dangerous right now! So why haven't I been back? Why haven't we had a funeral for our friends? Do you realize the impossibility of our situation Goku? What if there's more than two androids? You'd probably try fighting them too! Don't you care that you could die and leave me here all alone? Or do you miss her that bad that you'd leave me to go to her?" She was just spitting things out like darts at a dartboard, hoping something hit and whacked that smile she loved so much right off his face.

Goku stared at her wide and innocent eyed but didn't stop smiling so that she was forced clench both her fists and growl. "What? Why are you looking at me like that? What is wrong with you? Answer me!"

"It's just that. I haven't seen you this angry in a long time and...it's actually sort of relieving."

That stopped her in tracks so that it was her that stared at him in a daze now, lost. "What?" She asked again, a bit deflated.

Goku came towards her and put his hands on her shoulders and then slowly, as if testing the waters, pulled her against him. Bulma let him with hesitation that broke only when she felt the warmth of his hands on her body.

"You're an angry person, Bulma." He told her softly.

"And saying that's not helping your case." She huffed, but didn't push away.

She felt his arm shift and assumed he was scratching his head in that apologetic manner of his. "I just mean that you were passionate about everything before all this happened. I haven't seen you like that in a long time. It's good to have the old you back, even for a short time."

Bulma drowned in shame for behaving like a child while Goku remained so infinitely innocent and goodhearted. She pulled back just enough so that she could look into his dark eyes and see that he'd meant what he said. Of course he did, Goku didn't lie and he was loyal. So loyal that he would still miss his former wife every day 12 years after she'd passed.

King Kai had contacted them once. After everything happened.. He'd told Goku that everyone had made it safely to Otherworld, including Chi Chi and Gohan. Bulma nearly cried out as it occurred to her that he'd also lost a son in this ordeal, how could she be so selfish?

How was Goku managing all of this?

Bulma reached her hand under his orange gi top and fingered the flesh of his scar running over his torso beneath it. The memory of how he'd got it pained her too much though and she stopped nearly as soon as she'd started to remember it.

"I love you too." She finally answered him, cornered by her own guilt.

Then he did something they didn't often do around the others because it was distracting and they lived in a world where there was little room to be distracted. He leaned down and kissed her, not on the cheek or the forehead but on the lips and so gentle she felt her heart beating wildly in her chest.

The dreary room and it's dozen onlookers melted away and she closed her eyes, transported by the feelings he gave her. There was no more androids, no more travelling, no more dead grandmothers or their strange not-secrets. She drifted completely carefree for a moment, content to let him hold her up until finally they had to separate because a desperate voice had called for Bulma.

It was a woman by the name of Mint, one of the younger adults who accompanied their most recent group of survivors. She was standing in the doorway to the back of the warehouse, her eyes large and alarmed, a sack in her hands.

Bulma pulled her arms away from Goku's waist, annoyed but became accutely aware of the horrified expression in Mint's face and grew concerned herself. "What is it?" She asked and started to walk, then run towards her.

"It's Arugula!" The woman moaned, "she's gone missing!"

"What!?" Bulma and Goku said at the same time. Something dark and mysterious shadowed Goku's eyes as the others had joined her and Mint at the door. Everyone was staring disbelievingly at the empty lot behind the warehouse which was, most assuredly, empty of green haired little girls.

"Goku!" Bulma cried, but he was already pushing passed everyone and slipping out the door. "She's not far." He said.

This was one thing that made them such a good team. Bulma and Goku had known each other so long it was as though they had some sort of silent communication in which they needed little words to relay a message. The last one had told Goku to extend his ability to sense people's power levels to see if he could locate her.

She sighed in relief that he could and ran out after him as he suddenly jumped and flew north in a streak of yellow. It was pointless to try and see him, he'd already disappeared, but she kept her eyes to the sky anyways and tried not to be angry with herself again for being so useless in this matter.

Arugula was her responsibility and already she'd lost herr. Would this have happened with her own son? Was she just not meant to be a mother?

"I should have been out here with her." Bulma muttered, miserably. "She was angry with Goku and I for not saving her grandma, she told me so before I went back inside." Bulma muttered, distraught. "I should have known she'd try to run."

"It's not your fault, you couldn't have known." Mint, who had followed her outside, said meekly.

Bulma faced her and frowned, "Don't tell me that. It is my fault! I took my eyes off her for just a second and that was all it took." She felt tears well in the corners of her eyes and closed them against the dizziness threatening to drag her to the ground. "Will this world ever be safe again?"

"I don't know..."

For some reason Mint's vague response irked her, why didn't she have the answer? She turned on the girl, eyes gleaming. "Just do me a favor and go away, would you?" It wasn't fair turning her anger on the young woman but she had no patience for her anymore.

Mint frowned deeply and turned to leave. That's when it happened.

The sky was clear and blue that day, clouds lazily drifted by. There was a warm breeze from the west which contested against another cooler one from the east. It was altogether far too pleasant for the sudden chill that crawled up her spine.

An instant after the chill the air seemed to ripple and then came the voice -that silky, condescending voice.

"Yo. It's Bulma, isn't it? Who's your friend?"

Mint screamed, but bulma's own scream caught in her throat. Mint ran for the open door in a flash of pale green garments but all Bulma could seem to do was blanch and shutter.

Slowly, incredulously, she peered over her shoulder and right into the face of Android 17. He smirked.

The door slammed shut and clicked, betraying her to the android for the false safety of a locked deadbolt and flimsy cement walls.

Bulma felt rage beneath her understanding and fear of what was transpiring.

She was going to die and then she thought despairingly that she'd yet to live and all at once Lettuce's words crashed into her with cruel clarity.


	6. Chapter 6 The Game

_(By request of so many, I have decided to change the ratings to M. Be warned that content after this chapter will be for mature audiences. Thank you so much to all my readers for continuing to encourage me.) _

"Huh, that's strange behavior for a friend." Android 17 appraised, staring at the door Mint had disappeared behind with mild amusement. His eyes were a stunning blue but empty, like a corpse that somehow comprehended life but only by watching others perform it.

_Damn it._ She thought, panicked. The other's left her to this maniac and Goku was searching for Arugula. This fight was her own, but how would she ever survive it?

For once there was a clear answer for her question. She wouldn't survive it.

"You're not much of a talker." 17 observed. He had rested those cold eyes on Bulma again and she shuttered against the surge of terror they sent through her.

"I don't have anything to say to the likes of you." Bulma retaliated bravely -she felt small right now, very, very small. Her fists clenched again and she realized numbly that the scarf was still in her hand.

"That's not very nice." The android never stopped grinning. His arms were crossed and he hovered inches above the ground.

"Please, I wouldn't waste my kindness on a bucket of bolts." The words ached in the back of her throat as she said them; her mind screamed for her to just shut up.

_Stall. You've got to stall him._ It was the only plan her frazzled mind could comprehend besides going willingly to death. It was some small and desperate grasp for the hope that Goku would return and save her.

17 tilted his chin haughtily, smirking with some nasty thought. "You should try being kinder, human. If you want to find what you've lost, that is." He purred, divulging with cruel satisfaction just what his nasty thought had been.

Inside of her, rage tugged at it's leash until it was nothing but a thread holding her back from doing something stupid.

The android had Arugula, how was that even possible? "What have you done with her? You give her back!" She demanded.

"Why would I do that?" He landed on the asphalt with a click of his boots, "after all the trouble we went through to take her?"

_We._ Bulma had almost forgotten his partner, Android 18. Where was she? Did she have Arugula? Was Goku walking into a trap? "I swear if you hurt her I'll take you apart screw by screw and turn you into a toaster. You hear me?!" Bulma threatened. They were empty words, as empty as his eyes and she felt the weight of her uselessness when he laughed. Really it was more of a hollow noise that sounded like a laugh but didn't have the feel of one.

She felt the urge to punch him in the teeth. If she'd thought it would have any point, maybe she would have

"Funny but I doubt it old lady" A second voice said callously. Behind her, as if on cue, Android 18 rose over the parking lot wall, straight as a pin with her arms folded over her chest.

Bulma was trapped between them frozen in terror. 18 landed noiselessly on the ground.

"Took you long enough 18. Where have you been?" 17 snapped.

"Hiding the girl. Like you told me to do."

Bulma's eyes widened at this but she was still to terrified to say anything.

"It took you that long to hide her?" 17 looked amused, not angry, but Android 18 scowled at him.

"If you think so, then next time you do it. Don't forget that Goku was on my tail. I had to be careful or I wouldn't have been able to out maneuver him."

Android 17 grinned again. "Yeah. I guess you're right about that."

"Of course I am." 18 said, deadpan.

"Please, don't kill her." Bulma finally managed to formulate words.

They'd stopped looking at her in order to banter with each other but then both pairs of those austere eyes fell on her again. It was everything she had not to let them unnerve her.

"I think she should be more worried about herself than that girl. Don't you agree sister?" 17 gauded menacingly.

Bulma could have fainted but somehow something within her kept her standing, paralyzed between them but still conscious.

"Yes, she's foolish." 18, 17's sister, agreed.

"I thought the blue haired one was suppose to be smart? So far all she's been is stupid. Maybe my memory circuits are malfunctioning?"

"They're not brother. I have that information too."

"I see...how sad."

"Maybe she's just getting old? I mean look at how grey her hair is, and those wrinkles. She's likely to keel over any day now." 18 offered as if she was an expert in mortality.

Bulma's eyes widened and finally that tether which kept her rage in check behind a layer of logic and fear, snapped and she exploded. "OLD!?" She roared mindlessly. Her lip curled in a sneer and she stomped her foot. "I'm barely middle aged you rusty tin can and I'll have you know I look great considering what you two have done to this world!"

Android 18 lifted an eyebrow but otherwise watched her unblinkingly. It only served to further piss Bulma off but also reminded her to remain on topic. "Are you going to tell me why you're here or did you just come to mock me?! Whatever you intend on doing, just get on with it already and spare me the flak!" Then she crossed her own arms with some form of feeble defiance collected by her attempt to seem unafraid.

Really she was bracing herself for an attack.

"Hey," 18 said, "I kinda like your scarf."

Bulma blinked back at her so puzzled at the unexpected and totally off-base compliment that she nearly unraveled completely. What a strange diversion into small talk.

"You...what?" She gazed down at the scarf dangling limply from her hand still and squeezed the heavy knitted fabric. A breeze picked it up and slapped it against her thighs.

"What does that have to do with anything 18?" Android 17 snapped impatiently.

Bulma wanted to know the same thing but she'd used up all her courage for the time being and just stood there dumbly.

"What I'm just being honest!" She snapped right back at him.

"Would you forget about your stupid clothing for a few minutes? She asked us what we were doing here, not your fashion preferences!"

Android 18, if it was possible, looked more angry than she did before and thrust her chin up in defiance. "Fine! You answer her. I'm done with this stupid game." Just like that she jumped far up onto the roof of the warehouse and sat down in a huff. The sheet metal wobbled and made a strange tinny sound under her weight.

"Women!" 17 growled after her and rolled his eyes indignantly. He set his hands on his hips then and looked at Bulma who appeared as though stuck between an outrage and a mental breakdown.

"I guess I'll tell you what's going on then."

Bulma gazed up at him silently. 18 had startled her into sobriety.

"We're here to tell you about a game we invented." He told her as if that explanation cleared anything up for her.

"A game?" She paled and tried to swallow but her throat was so dry if felt like she was choking down cotton balls.

"Yes, that's right. We've been terribly bored lately, with all you humans being dead and all. So in order to have a little fun around here, we've devised a new game! As you can probably already guess, we've taken the human child." He seemed so proud of this she felt that urge again to punch him. "...and have hidden her somewhere on this planet."

"What? No." Bulma gaped and felt tears burn her eyes and then spill over her cheeks. She was crying for Arugula and because she realized at that moment that she wasn't going to die right then, for she'd become their messenger.

"We'll give you and Goku three days to find where she is." He continued. "If you find her, 18 and I will be waiting for you for a fight."

On the roof Android 18 laid back and folded her hands behind her head. "That means if you die, she dies." 18 explained. "And if you don't find her in 72 hours, she dies and we'll start the game over with someone new and so on." She laid back on the roof, dislodged a single hand from behind her head and idly picked at dirt in her nails, pretending to be disinterested again.

"That's not fair!" Bulma suddenly screeched, out of her senses with panic.

18 snorted and sat up, seeming to drop her act. Her smirk felt even more crazed than her brother's, though Bulma couldn't quite place why that was."Someone should have told you by now old lady...life isn't fair."

"No 18, she's right. There's no way we'd have any fun with these terms, there's no competition for us." 17 admitted, arrogant enough that even 18 rolled her eyes. "Lets change the rules to make things more interesting, shall we?"

18 didn't seem to like that idea but she didn't say anything to imply that was the case. She laid back against the roof again and proceeded with examining her hands.

"Should you find the girl in three days," He began, "we will fight one-on-one rather than two against one. Like 18 said, if you lose we get to kill the girl. If you don't find her, we'll kill her and take another one of your group." He paused thoughtfully. "Oh yeah. And we're playing to the death so I guess that means we destroy the rest of the world too."

Bulma felt a little like the world was tilting on its axis and she was about to fall right over with it. The parking lot spun around and she vaguely realized she'd taken a step back, but for what reason she couldn't figure out. Her mind raced with the new information they'd given her.

They'd taken Arugula, though how they'd even found them to begin with she had no idea -she didn't have the luxury of mulling that one over though. The only way she and Goku would be able to get Aru back was by finding where the androids hid her before three days were up and then defeat them in a one-on-one battle.

Goku was the worlds only hope and ever since his heart problems, she knew he struggled. He was strong still, incredibly so, but there were limits to even his strength...he couldn't hide that there was certain strain put on him when he fought for too long. How would they ever get through this? There were so many things baring down on her that she sunk to her knees and held her head even as they stood over her watching her crumbling at their feet.

"Goku went after her. He sensed her power level. How…"

"How did we hide her from him?" 17 cut her off. "There's a simple solution to that, but if I told you it would give things away and really where's the fun in that?"

"It would be like cheating." 18 agreed from the rooftop.

"Indeed it would." 17 responded.

Suddenly 17 rose his head to the sky and squinted. He'd stuffed his hand in his pockets at some point but he removed them now and brushed one through his hair. "Damn. He's coming." He announced unequivocally.

Bulma blinked and rose her own eyes to the clouds. She couldn't see anything there and the androids couldn't sense power levels so what was going on?

"We have to go old lady." 18 rose into the air, arms perpetually crossed over her chest, and smirked. Faster than Bulma could possibly ever comprehend she was directly in front of her, leaning so that her lips nearly touched her own. She grinned when Bulma yelped and blushed at the advance.

"Wait, what are you…" She shrunk before the other female.

"I think I'll take this with me." 18 purred then snagged the scarf from Bulma's fingers.

"You're unbelievable." 17 muttered as 18 walked back to him with the garment and the two exploded into the air in a blast of wind.

By the time Goku got back to the warehouse, Bulma was leaning against the walls of the building. She'd turned pale as a ghost and was staring at the ground in a daze while a procession of ants crawled unmolested right under her raised legs.

"Bulma!" Goku stated in alarm and went to her. When she didn't respond he bent down and lifted her like a bride into his arms. Being in Goku's arms while he was moving was a lot like gliding from one place to another, smooth and gentle.

Bulma blinked away the haze which had clouded her mind after the androids left and looked up at him.

"Goku." She whispered then with more brashness added, "took you long enough to get back to me you lughead. While you were out on a goose-chase, I was dealing with the androids!"

He looked at her with a sort of grimness that she didn't see often in him, even in those day. Immediately she quieted and gazed up into his eyes, trying to read them. He hadn't seemed surprised by what she said.

"I'm sorry Bulma, I came as soon as I realized..." Pain registered on his face and her heart sank. "What they were doing." Goku admitted finally, he'd pried open the door with ease and walked inside as if it hadn't been locked.

Bulma heard the frightened muttering and shuffling of others in the grey shadows but paid them no mind.

"I know, it's ok." She forgave him and looked down so her eyes were hidden by her bangs. "They took her Goku. They took Arugula."

His grip around her tightened and she felt him turn rigid. "Where?" He asked.

"I don't know, they wouldn't say. It's a game Goku. I don't think we have a choice but play it."

"Then bring it on."


	7. Chapter 7 Game Plan

Bulma and Goku had retreated to a room in the side of the building that must have been the office of whatever manager had run the warehouse twelve years ago. It was a small square space with charred blue wallpaper and a floor littered with papers. There was a large metal desk at the far end with a cheap upholstered chair. Bulma sunk into it and closed her eyes against the swirling in her head.

"Tell me what happened." Goku demanded. He stood on the other end of the desk with his arms folded over his chest, staring at her kindly but serious.

She nodded slowly and began to tell him the details, adding an aggravated emphasis on how Mint had run off and left her to die and ending the tale with the rules of the game.

Goku listened to her, occasionally rubbing his chin in thought but otherwise quiet until she finished.

By the time the story was over Bulma was mad again but didn't have the energy to show it. She sat mute on the chair, staring dispassionately at a roster of employee names who'd been about to receive raises. A man named Ashido was at the top of the list and she wondered absentmindedly what he'd been like and if he'd had a family. He'd probably been a better parent and partner than she was.

"Three days isn't a lot of time." Goku said.

The words sobered her. She looked up into his face and frowned.

"What are we going to do?" She asked imploringly. "Oh, Goku this is all my fault."

Goku seemed startled and he went around the desk and put a hand on her shoulder.

"Hey don't say that, this is not your fault."

"What if we never find her? What if we lose? What if they take someone else?" She was panicking again.

"Bulma, stop worrying." Came Goku's soft voice, reassuring her with a calm certainty.

"The others will look to us to save them...Goku, I'm so tired of this."

"That's why it's time to end this once and for all."

"How!?" She snapped, "How are we going to end it when you've destroyed any hope

of doing this in three days-"

Stopping, Bulma gaped at him and felt the dizziness return. She couldn't believe she'd just ripped open that wound again and so callously. "Oh...Goku!"

Goku's face fell and for a long horrible moment his eyes went blank. It was too late to take it back, the memory slammed into them both like the punch of a raging saiyan warrior.

Twelve years ago, Goku fell ill with a life threatening heart disease. He'd been unable

to fight with the others, unable to do anything but lay and clench at his chest in something of a coma. Bulma had brought him and Chi Chi in one of her jets up to Kami's lookout where she was able to protect Goku from the androids still searching for him.

What she'd not accounted for was that when Gohan died, Chi Chi would be so filled with a need for revenge that she stole the jet and went after the androids herself. This is how she too went to the Otherworld, and perhaps why Bulma felt such guilt when the woman was brought up.

Goku had woken up barely a day later but when he came to and could no longer sense the power levels of his friends and family -especially of Chi Chi and Gohan- he'd been unable to control his rage. It had been just an instant, a fleeting moment barely the length of a blink and yet it had had disastrous consequences.

He exploded into a golden ball of energy and screamed into the heavens with such lucid pain the clouds parted and the sky rippled. Rocks had defied gravity, the earth shook beneath them, light bent and blinded everything in white.

Po Po had needed to take Bulma away from the lookout on his carpet when the entire suspension of the island tilted.

When the blast was over, mere seconds later, everything was gone. The building was razed, the tiles ripped apart, the gardens disintegrated into ash. The door to the hyperbolic time chamber was broken apart, the portal no longer accessible.

Goku had been devastated by his outburst even when Po Po returned with Bulma and assured him that he could fix the chamber with a little time. Unfortunately the following chain of events had left that option unattainable.

The surge of energy and the magnitude of the explosive power Goku had released had alerted the androids as to where they were. They arrived within the hour.

That had been the first time she or Goku had ever seen them. They'd seemed so normal at the time, that she had almost rathered them be hideous monsters just to justify the amount of damage they had caused to the Earth.

Goku, barely woken from his coma and still wretched with grief, had fought the androids that day. It had been a losing battle, but the further damage left to the lookout drove Po Po to once again take Bulma away from the battlefield.

They hadn't gotten far, however, before the android 17 decided that it was more amusing not to allow them to leave. He shot a blast at them that would have been able to destroy the earth three times over, far too great for Po Po to handle.

In a desperate moment, Goku abandoned his guard completely and appeared in front of the beam to save them. This is how Goku received the scar on his chest and how Po Po had gone missing for all those years.

"I'm sorry." Bulma croaked, blinking her eyes as though coming out of a deep and stifling dream.

"It's alright. You were right to say it." He told her, though from the hard look in his eyes she knew it had stabbed a knife in his resolve.

"We need to find a way to defeat them." She said in avoidance of the topic while she stood. "Maybe Dr. Gero's lab has some answers -blueprints or something."

Bulma had been considering that since she mentioned going to the lab that morning. The gears had reminded her that the androids were only machines, something she was quite proficient in.

Goku didn't even look thoughtful, the guilt simply fell from his face with the idea of new hope and he happily exclaimed, "Hey! That's a great idea!"

The light had touched his eyes again and she grinned. "Yeah! I say we do it!"

"I'm gonna have to ask that you go to the lab on your own though Bulma. There's something I gotta go do and may take me a little while." Goku rubbed the back of his head, proclaiming this as if it was no big deal at all.

Bulma crossed her arms, brows furrowed. "Ok, but what is it? What's more important than a way to defeat the androids?"

"Well. I have an idea, but I don't know if it will work so I don't think I should tell you right now."

She growled. "Goku. You want to leave me alone with all the survivors in the middle of a crisis for an unknown amount of time and you won't even tell me why?"

Goku scratched his forehead. "Uh. Yeah."

Bulma's face turned red. "That's insane! Tell me what's going on! Right now!" She was in his face, scowling.

His hands came up in a nervous defence. "I'm sorry Bulma but I'd rather not explain right now!"

Bulma tossed her hands up and shook her head. For all of Goku's spirit and boyishness he had the potential to be the most cryptic guy she'd ever known.

She groaned and said in frustrated defeat, "Fine! I'll take the others back to headquarters and then take Rin and a few others with me to the lab."

His eyes softened and he offered his hand to her. She looked up at him questioningly then blushed and drew into him on the strength of his arm.

"I promise, I'll be back to help you look for her...and I'll be stronger than ever."

Bulma didn't answer, she didn't want him to see that his tenderness was breaking her willpower to remain flustered with him.

"Bulma?" He pushed. "Hey are you ok? You look really awful"

"Goku!" Bulma's warning cut through his sentence like a razor. He stopped talking and just held her against him -even he couldn't miss that message.

Safe in his arms in the seclusion of the office something stirred inside of her and she realized that she'd not allowed herself to cry yet -the tears came then fast and with a vengeance. If Goku was startled by it, he didn't show it. His hands began to stroke her hair and back and he whispered sweet reassurances to her. "It will be alright," "I love you," "We'll find her."

She was crumbling. _What was the point of this life if it was only filled with pain? _

Bulma wasn't sure how long she'd been wrapped up in Goku's embrace. At some point they'd moved to the ground. Goku was resting his back against the wall and she was curled into a ball on his lap.

"Goku." She whispered pitifully and pressed harder against him.

"Huh?" The pressure of his chin pushed against her head, he was looking at her. "Yeah?"

"Will you make love to me?" Bulma pleaded.

"Bulma?" He seemed a little confused, but his body didn't for a bulge had already begun to rise against her thigh.

She blushed. "Please...Goku, this might be the last time we can be together...I want you to make love to me. Is that wrong?"

"No." Came his response clear and convicted this time so that she stared up at him in alarm. His face had the same resolve as his words. "It's not wrong."

Relief washed over her.

He began to kiss at the tears staining her cheeks and wiped them away with his thumb while she gazed at him. Then his lips strayed and he was kissing her and she was melting into him without thought or care of the rest of the world outside their own.

At least this was something that the androids couldn't take from her. Her and Goku's love was too pure to be tainted by their evil.

She kissed him back from that core of thought and whimpered longingly into his lips. He responded by sinking his hands below her waist and pulling her closer to him by her buttocks.

Bulma straddled him and coiled her arms around his neck. She felt younger when she was with him, as though her youth was rejuvenated from the energy of his strength.

He groaned and rose his pelvis against her thighs. At that moment a shockwave of heat surged up her spine.

She shivered and slipped her tongue into his mouth, rocking back and forth above his rising groin and then slowly began to grind against him.

They moaned quietly together, picking off each other's garments quickly and feverishly. First Goku's gi top then Bulma's shirt, both flew over her shoulder in a pile. Goku hefted his weighted shirt from his shoulders and lifted her from the floor onto the desk where she sat with her legs wrapped about his waist.

His hands explored her body with movements as deft as when he practiced katas. Each stroke left a trail of cold excitement in its wake until she was shivering in his grip.

Bulma undid her bra and tossed it in the general direction of the pile.

At the exposure of her breasts Goku blushed and ran a finger over one of her nipples. The kiss had stopped for a moment while he gazed at her with some expression she couldn't understand.

"Goku?" She bit her lip a bit nervously. It was no mystery that she was getting older. the notion of aging had always bothered her and she couldn't bare to think that Goku -still looking 25- would begin to notice it.

"You've always been so pretty." He told her.

This time Bulma blushed. "Oh Goku, for a lughead you sure are sweet." She laughed and coiled her arms around his neck, drawing him into another kiss.

They were locked like this for a while. Goku's fingers traced circles around her areola while they rocked and tugged at the rest of their clothing until they were both naked and pressing needfully against one another.

Bulma felt her sex throbbing. Goku's stiff member was hard on her thighs, leaking wetness on her smooth skin. She moaned and reached for it, much to his surprise and then delight when her fingers began to stroke

"That...feels good." He encouraged with almost innocent adoration in his voice. His corded muscles were bulging with the sexual tension; he closed his eyes and groaned.

He was big, warrior sized she often teased, and the shaft was thick and wide in her tiny hands. She worked her fingers over the head and watched him shudder and closed his eyes to brace himself against waves of pleasure. A smile had begun to spread on her lips and quickly rose into a grin as his moans grew more persistent.

"You like that?" Bulma cooed and stole his mouth with her own before he could respond.

They kissed again and again until Goku hoisted her up and slammed her against the wall. She grunted and blushed. Her mind was lusting after his strength and physical ferocity.

His manhood was resting against her sex, causing it to pulse in aggravated anticipation. Goku's hands were tracing every inch of her body from her upper cheeks to her lower ones and down her thighs.

A hand came to rest upon her sex and he began to rub at it, slowly, skillfully. She let out a little gasp and moaned and he responded to the sounds by dipping a finger into her.

"Oh! Goku!" She gulped and spread her legs a little wider for him.

He blinked. "What? Is that not good?" His finger started to draw outwards and she clutched his wrist with something wild in her eye.

"Don't you stop." She hissed.

He stared wide eyed and nodded. "Oh...Ok!"

The finger pushed back inside of her and she shivered and planted her hands on the wall behind her for balance.

"You sure are wet Bulma." He observed.

Bulma nodded and nearly squeaked in surprise when he thrust a second finger into her depths. She let out a long, shaky moan and tilted her head back. He was working his hand, twirling his fingers in and out and pushing them against her inner walls.

Goku's free hand groped at her chest, freely tracing her nipple and tugging at it almost playfully.

Bulma leaned closer and mapped kisses down his chin and on his lips. "I want you Goku." She pleaded.

He made a noise that sounded like an agreement then lifted her up so her legs were wrapped about his waist and he was in position She felt his manhood pushing against her ripe, hot sex and swallowed at the pressure sensation.

She put her arms around his neck.

"You want this, huh?" Goku said tauntingly, grinning at her. He'd not entered her yet and there was a glint in his dark eyes.

Bulma blushed. "Yes, Goku."

"Well...I don't know-"

"Goku you're going to fuck me right now!" She snapped, furious with tension.

He paled and laughed, "Geez, alright. I was just kidding."

Without another word his large shaft started to fill her. She turned rigid for an instant and then fell against the wall, relaxed as he sunk deeper and deeper inside.

It was nothing like his fingers. Goku's member was thick and warm and satiating and the arms which held her suspended were strong. She literally felt as though she was floating in mid-air, unhindered by age or weakness.

The heat turned up between them. Goku sped quicker and harder and Bulma moaned continuously, amazed by his dexterity and the sensations spreading from his groin and into her sex. It was throbbing at that point, pounding in response to his girth so that she began to feel dizzy from it's heat.

Bulma had never remembered wanting sex so badly but she today she craved his touch more than ever and ached with desire for the bliss of melting into his chiseled body.

Perhaps the sudden desperate need to be with him was because she figured they would both be dead in three days. Her lack of hope drove a stake in her heart that only seemed alleviated by knowing she wasn't alone.

She realized, while he slipped in and out of her with easy, fluid motions, that she had never felt alone with Goku. His cheerful energy and kind spirit was the only thing that had gotten her through the last 12 years. Happiness and gratitude gushed from her then and she moaned with more than just budding ecstasy, but with a love that seemed to flower between them.

"I love you Goku." She told him.

He must of sensed the desperation in her tone because he looked at her with such uncharacteristic understanding that they collided simultaneously into a feverish kiss -the sort shared only by lovers who knew they faced an impending and unavoidable death together.

They fell to the ground, Bulma supine with Goku laying them missionary style. He thrust back into her again and they threaded their bodies together.

His manhood pushed against her G-spot tirelessly, prodding emotions and sensations out of her she hadn't felt in ages. The androids and the survivors and even Arugula were forgotten for the time being while they lost themselves in each other.

At last the heat in her sex grew into an intolerable burn and sent shivers down her legs and butterflies up her throat.

Bulma cried out with it and finished with him inside her.

Seconds later, Goku huffed and groaned into her neck. "Bulma." He kissed her earlobe as her womanhood prickled with an odd sensitivity and then slowly spilled his orgasm down her sex.

Afterwards the two of them lay on the floor on their sides, facing one another in silence. Goku brushed a strand of hair from Bulma's face and rested his hand on her hip.

"That was great." He said.

Bulma grinned. "Yeah, it was."

Something tender and wordless passed between them and Bulma kissed him one more time.

"I have to go. We don't have much time." Goku sighed, wrapping her a little closer.

"I know."

Her heart sank anyways. Tears started to converge in the corners of her eyes.

"Hey." He cooed, "Hey, why are you crying? Bulma?"

"We're going to die, aren't we? Oh, Arugula...she's just a baby..."

It pained her to admit to him how little faith she had and worse to admit it to herself. The drive she'd had as a young woman felt as if it was being stripped from her soul with each passing day and every new wrinkle where her smile used to be.

"Bulma." Goku said scornfully. "We're not going to die. I'm going to protect everyone. I promise."

His words only caused her to sob worse. He pulled away from her and looked down into her tear streaked face.

"Huh!? What's wrong?!" He practically begged.

"Oh Goku. You're unbelievable. Do you realize how impossible that promise will be to keep?" Then quieter she added, "Besides...who's going to protect _you_ you idiot."

The humor fell from his face. He made a muted sound and began to stand and gather his clothing. Bulma reluctantly followed his example but slower as her limbs felt cumbersome with age and grief.

She understood what he was doing just then and it weighed her down like she had a body made of rocks. Goku hadn't answer her because he knew he'd protect her and Arugula, but couldn't promise he would live in the process.

"Please tell me where you're going Goku…" Bulma clenched her hands into fists, fighting the threat of more tears.

"I told you already that I can't Bulma. I don't want to get your hopes up too soon."

She struggled with heavy arms into her shirt. "I don't care about that. I only want you safe."

He went to her and wrapped his arms around her waist."Just think of it like a surprise...if that's easier."

It wasn't easier and she didn't look a bit convinced but she let it go when another pressing matter occurred to her. "Goku. I've been getting a weird feeling about things lately."

"Yeah? How so?" He asked, kissing her on the forehead and then sitting hard on the floor with his boots. He seemed so carefree again.

"Don't you think things have been a little strange around here lately?" Bulma asked.

"Strange?" He blinked and then his eyes narrowed. "Hm. Yeah, now that you mention it. I think I know what you're talking about."

For some reason she had half hoped he would say she was crazy and assure her that nothing was wrong. She hadn't wanted him to agree but now that she had they had yet another thing to address.

"What things have you noticed?" Bulma inquired, pulling on her pants.

"Well." He mused. "When I was chasing down Arugula earlier...it was moving extremely fast. That's why I guessed it had to have been the androids, that wasn't really a surprise. What was weird was when I sped up so did they and then Arugula disappeared completely. I can't explain it, it doesn't make any sense if they can't sense power levels!"

Bulma thought about this while biting on her thumb. "I see." She muttered absentmindedly.

"Right before you showed up." She started again after a moment. "Android 17 looked at the sky and said that you were coming."

"Huh, really?" Goku scratched his head but he didn't seem all that alarmed.

"You seem awfully calm about this."

He looked at her, eyes soft. "That's because whatever's going on Bulma, I have faith that you'll figure it out."

Bulma blushed and felt a swell of pride in her chest. "You bet I will!" She announced confidently.

And she believed it.


End file.
